A new 54,300 square foot facility in Slemon Park is now PEI headquarters for 200 Testori Americas Summerside employees. This facility was officially opened today by Testori President Lindo Lapegna and Minister of Development and Technology Mike Currie. The new facility site was necessary to allow for company expansion and to create 50 additional jobs.
During its ten year history in PEI, Testori has evolved from a small distributor of manufactured textiles into a major North American participant in the transportation industry. The company designs, engineers and produces interior packages and components for the aircraft and mass transit industries. Testori now has an 80 percent share of the North American market for mass transit rail interiors.
“Testori is a great example of an Island-based company competing in a very large and competitive global marketplace,” said Development and Technology Minister Mike Currie. “Testori has proven it is a world leader in this market by winning competitive contracts time and time again . It’s not hard to see why businessman Lindo Lapegna has been the recipient of prestigious awards such as “Exporter of the Year” in 2003, and the 2004 Ernst and Young Atlantic Canada “Entrepreneur of Year” in manufacturing.”
Testori also has a facility in Bloomfield, PEI which employs an additional 50 people. Their main customers include Bombardier and Alstom who collectively control most of the mass transit industry in North America.
Wiebel Aerospace, an affiliated company of Testori Americas, has 50 employees in their Summerside location.
“A great deal of our success can be attributed to our employees who continue to help our company achieve great things with their dedication and ingenuity,” said Lindo Lapegna. “Prince Edward Island has been a great location to expand our business operation. Our company continues to grow successfully thanks to the support we have been able to receive over the last ten years.”
Some of the best known names in aerospace today have chosen to establish business in Prince Edward Island. Honeywell Engines & Systems, Atlantic Turbines International Inc., Wiebel Aerospace, MDS-PRAD Technologies Corp., Tube-Fab Ltd. Tronosjet Maintenance Inc., along with Testori Americas Corp. all call Prince Edward Island home. Currently, there are more than 800 people employed in the aerospace industry in PEI.
The Department of Development and Technology, provided a $2.7 million Forgivable Performance Loan, through Prince Edward Island Business Development, one of the lead business development agency’s for the province.